Garment-supporter



i NITED STATES ATENr Fries.

PATRICK MULLANE, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS.

GARMENT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming-part of Letters Patent No. 614,570, dated November 22, 1898.

Application filed November 15, 1897. Serial No. 658,515. (No model.)

To LZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK MULLANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mo! line, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Garment-Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to various new and useful improvements in supporters for stockings, hose, and other articles of wearing-apparel, and the type of supporter to which my invention particularly relates is that employing a pin cooperating with clamping or wedging jaws-as, for instance, as shown in my Patent No. 581,868, dated May 4, 1897.

The objects of the invention are to provide and produce a garment-supporter of that type which can be very cheaply manufactured, readily applied to the garment, and by which the garment will be grasped with great rigidity and against the possibility of accidental dislodgment.

Broadly considered, my present invention comprises a clamping or wedging hook, made, preferably, of flat material, such as sheetbrass, combined with a pin pivoted to the hook at or near its upper portion and normally extending parallel therewith above the slot in the hook which grasps the material, suitable means being provided-such, for eX- Yample, as a shield-beneath which the end of the pin engages for firmly retaining the pin in this position. When a shield is used for this purpose, the pin is preferably so constructed as by its own elasticity to retain its position normally beneath said shield. This latter feature, while desirable, is not indispensable, since the fabric itself tends to retain the pin in position, as I will explain hereinafter. By pivoting the pin to the hook or clamping-jaws it may be swung to one side and the necessary extent of fabric inserted thereon, after which the pin is swung over to its normal position, so as to extend parallel with and above the slot in the hook,whereupon the fabric is moved down upon the pin and guided thereby into said slot, so as to be grasped by the gripping-jaws of the hook. The fabric, therefore, will be retained by the hook when under strain; but if by any accidental downward pressure the grip of the hook on the fabric is loosened the fabric will be held by the pin and cannot become disengaged therefrom; but as soon as the strain is again applied to the hook the fabric will move down on the pin and be engaged by the slot in the hook before any tearing strain can be imposed thereon by the pin.

In order that my invention may be better understood, attention is directed to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a plan view of my improved fastener, showing in dotted lines the position of the pin for engagement thereof with the fabric; Fig. 2, a side view of the same; Fig. 3, an elevation illustrating the engagement of the pin with the fabric in applying my fastener in place; Fig. 4., a similar view, the pin being moved into its locking position so as tocarry the engaged portion of the fabric into line with the slot in the hook; and Fig. 5 a similar view showing the engaged portion of the fabric as being moved down upon the pin so as to be engaged by the clamping-jaws.

In all of the above views corresponding parts are represented by the same numerals of reference.

1 represents the body or hooked portion of the fastener, said body comprising a shank or main portion 2, a rearwardly-extending leg 3, and an eye or other device 4, by which the elastic 5 may be secured to the fastener. Between the shank 2 and the leg 3 a grippingslot 6 will be formed, into which the fabric will be jammed, so as to beretained thereby in the usual Way. In order to facilitate the engagement of the fabric into-this slot, the said leg is provided with an outturned lip 7 at its extreme end.

Preferably the body portion 1 of my improved fastener is formed of sheet metal, such as sheet-brass, it being possible to readily stamp the same out of such material by means of ordinary dies, whereby the manufacturing of the fasteners can be carried on very economically. It will be possible, however, to

construct the said body portion of other material besides sheet metal-such, for instance, as wire having the requisite stiffness for the purpose.

8 represents a pin which is secured to the fastener near its rear end in any suitable way-such, for example, as by passing the IOO said pin through an opening 9 in the fastener' and bending its rear end 10 into position adjacent t-o said opening, as shown. When the body 1 of the fastener is made of sheet metal, as is preferable, this way of securing the pin in position allows only for movement toward and away from the fastener in a plane parallel to its fiat surface. Since for the attachment of the fastener to the fabric this movement is all that is necessary, the special way I have described of securing the pin in position is preferable. Means are to be provided for lockin g the pin in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1--namely, with the pin extending longitudinally of the body 1 above the slot formed between the shank 2 and the leg 3 and substantially parallel with the upper face of said body, as shown in Fig. 2. For this purpose I prefer to employ a shield 11 of well-known form, which shield may be made integral with the body 1 of the fastener, being afterward bent over into place for the reception of the pointed end of the pin 8. When a shield 11 is used, I prefer to so mount the pin 8 in place upon the body 1 that its resilience will keep the same normally in engagement beneath the said shield, and when said pin is secured in position as I have described as the preferred form it may be so formed that when the rear end 10 of said pin comes into engagement with the edge of the shank 2, as shown in Fig. 1, the pin will occupy its desired normal position relative to the slot, whereby in order to pass the pin Yover the edge of and beneath thc shield the said pin will be placed under a slight tension, as will be understood.

The method of applying my improved fastener to the fabric will be readily comprehended from an examination of Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The pin is first moved away from the hook and is engaged beneath a small portion of the fabric 12, care being taken not to take upon the hook more fabric than can pass the free end of the leg 3. The pin is now engaged beneath the shield 11 or locked in any other way, so as to bring the engaged portion 12 of the fabric into line with the slot, as shown in Fig. 4. Ihen this is done, the fabric is moved down upon the pin and is firmly engaged between the leg 3 and the shank 2, so as to be clamped thereby. With my device it will be seen therefore that the fabric will not only be secured by the pin, but will also be clamped in the slot, as is common in fastening devices of this type not employing pins, and that the presence of the engaged portion of the fabric in said slot serves to keep the pin in its proper position. When it is desired to remove the fastener from the fabric, the operations just referred to are reversed.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. An improved fastening device for garments, comprisingin combination a hook having wedged clamping-jaws, and a pin pivoted to said hook and cooperating therewith, substantially as set forth.

2. An improved fastening device for garments, comprising in combination ahook having clamping-jaws, a pin pivoted to said hook and cooperating with said jaws, and means for locking said pin in its normal position, substantially as set forth.

3. An improved fastening device for garments, comprising in combination a hook having clamping-jaws, a pin pivoted to said hook and coperating with said jaws, and a shield engaging the pointed end of said pin for locking said` pin in its normal position, substantially as set forth.

4. An improved fastening device for garments, comprising in combination a hook having wedged clamping-jaws, and a pin coperating with said jaws and mounted thereon so as to be moved toward and away from said jaws in a single plane, substantially as set forth.

5. An improved fastening device for garments, comprising in combination a hook having clamping-jaws, a pin pivotally mounted on said hook and cooperating with the same, and a shield for locking said pin in its normal position, said shield being so arranged that the pin in being engaged with the same will be placed under tension, substantially as set forth.

6. An improved fastening device for garments, comprising in combination a hooked portion made of flat sheet metal and having clamping-jaws, an integral shield 11 on said hook, and a pin 8 cooperating wit-h said hook, said pin engaging an opening 9 in the hooked portion and having a bent-over portion 10 whereby said pin may move only in a plane substantially parallel to the fiat surface of said hooked portion,substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 6th day of November, 1897.

PATRICK MULLANE.

Witnesses:

W. E. CLARK, F. W. McINTosH.

IOO 

